ALL CLEAR

09.24.11

Satellite Falls Over Pacific

NASA

Is everyone okay? The 12,500-pound decommissioned satellite fell to Earth around midnight, entering the atmosphere somewhere above the Pacific. But it's not known where the satellite finally landed, or whether it was on water or on an island. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was expected to strew debris over a 500-mile crash zone as it broke apart on reentry. The satellite took longer than expected to return to Earth, slowing Thursday and Friday as it tumbled down, making crash predictionsdifficult.